All Blacks vs Springboks: Teams, kick-off time, live stream and preview

The Rugby Championships continue this weekend with the biggie: All Blacks vs Springboks. After a tumultuous 2016, the Boks have undergone somewhat of a renaissance this year. A 3-0 series win against France and two wins over Argentina – as well as a draw against Australia – has revived some hope. The All Blacks, meanwhile, […]

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All Blacks coach Steve Hansen on Thursday moved to allay fears his world champion side were becoming stagnant.

“In 2016 we hit the road running,” he told reporters.

“We had a group of men who were primed and they really jumped at the opportunity. What has changed is (in) 2017 the game has changed and we’re learning to deal with that. You’re always going to have a tough time at some period in your life. It would appear this is the year where we are having to find out about ourselves.”

The Boks, meanwhile, will be eyeing a better start than their dozy effort against Australia last weekend.

Lions prop Ruan Dreyer will make his second Test appearance, replacing Coenie Oosthuizen, who broke his arm in last week’s 23-23 draw with the Wallabies in Perth.

Flanker Jaco Kriel was also sent home from Auckland after scans revealed a torn muscle in his shoulder and was replaced in the starting side by Jean-Luc du Preez.

Lock Franco Mostert returns to the starting side to partner captain Eben Etzebeth in the second row with Pieter-Steph du Toit dropping onto the bench.

Speaking to the press on Thursday, Allister Coetzee said the job has been tough, but was happy with the progress made.

“It has been,” he said when asked if the Bok job was the toughest period of his career.

“It’s been bloody challenging. Coaching at international level, especially with the rugby-mad supporters that we have, managing the moods of millions of people is never an easy job, but it comes with the job.

“I’m just pleased that we have changed it in a way.

“We made a few tweaks at the beginning of the year and our time for preparation in 2017 was really good with the camps we had pre the French series. We spent time on our team environment, which is a massive thing because we were a team in transition.”

Where to watch

SuperSport 1 will have all the live action and build up (subscription required).

New Zealand vs South Africa kick off time

Kick off is at 09:35 South African time.

Facts and stats

The QBE Stadium is located in Albany, 15 km northwest of the Auckland city centre, and this will be the Springboks’ first Test against the All Blacks at this venue.

During RWC 2011, South Africa played two Test matches at this stadium. Their opponents were Namibia and Samoa and the scores were 87-0 and 13-5 respectively.

The venue, previously known as North Harbour Stadium, was opened on 8 March, 1997. It is home, among others, to the North Harbour Rugby Union. The seating capacity of QBE Stadium is 25 000, but was increased to 30 000 for this Test match.

South Africa’s first Test match in Auckland against New Zealand was played in 1921 during South Africa’s first tour to New Zealand, captained by Boy Morkel. The Test in Auckland was won by the Springboks (9-5).

South Africa’s last win in New Zealand was eight years ago in Hamilton, on 12 September, 2009. The score was 32-29 and the referee on the day was Nigel Owens of Wales.

Total number of caps

The total test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 300, with 93 caps in the backline, 207 caps amongst the forwards with a further 202 on the bench.

The average caps per player in the backline are 13, the forwards 26 while the players on the bench average 25. The average age of the starting 15 is 26.

Milestones

Tendai Mtawarira will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok prop to 94 caps in this position. He is the third most experienced Springbok forward, behind Victor Matfield and John Smit.

Mtawarira will also play in his 43rd Caste Lager Rugby Championship match, making him the fourth Springbok behind Bryan Habana (53), Jean de Villiers (50) and Victor Matfield (48) to play in 40 or more matches in this competition.

“Beast” will also extend his Springbok record to 33 consecutive Test matches in the Tri-Nations / Castle Lager Rugby Championship.